Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
We stared at each other.
Neither ready to speak or move or break whatever spell we were in. I couldn’t stand it. All I could think about was her hands on my cock and her lips against mine.
Needing a distraction from the sudden overwhelming need to touch her, I stalked toward the wardrobe and wrenched it open. As expected, I found my black duffel next to the red parcel and a smaller bag for Pim. Taking both, I headed toward her still sitting on the bed and placed the red package beside the girl I wanted more than anything.
“For you.”
Her eyes widened as I stepped back and dragged a hand through my hair. “Wear them. Not for me. But for you. It’s time to remember just how powerful clothing can be.”
“What do you mean?”
I glanced at the red box, already berating myself for how much harder this would be for me. “I mean the right wardrobe can erase multiple flaws and worries. The right wardrobe can bring your enemy to his knees.”
Her eyes sharpened, trying to decipher what I meant.
Tearing my gaze away, I stalked from the bedroom before she could crack open the box and cause me to lose the rest of my self-control.
I vanished into the bathroom to shower.
To prepare for the best and most likely worst night of my life.
Chapter Twenty
______________________________
Pim
LACE.
Garters.
Sex and sensuality and sin.
The box was full of lingerie all tucked demurely in pink and red tissue paper. To most women, it would be the prelude to one of the most romantic nights of her life. To me, it represented bondage and discomfort and the reminder I was soft while he was hard. I was useable while he was the master who could do what he wanted.
His body would go inside mine.
Was there anything more odd than one’s body penetrating another? Was I overthinking it? Would I ever be able to think about sex as emotion and sensation rather than brutal claiming?
Pulling a bra free from the snake’s nest of femininity, I eyed the cupid pink roses on the half-moon cups. The matching knickers were just as pretty, just as innocent. Tossing it onto the bed, I picked up another combination. This one jet black with velvet straps and lace panels in the underwear. Countless sets of whites and blues and cremellos.
Time ticked onward as my skin crawled at the thought of dressing in tight spandex and underwire.
My ears pricked at the sound of a shower turning on followed by the splashing of water. Instantly, my imagination took over. The image of Elder naked and soaked with his head tossed back and liquid slicking over his thick black hair. Soap bubbles coasting down his body, doing their best to wash away the pain inside him but failing.
My tummy clenched once again—surprising me, confusing me. I’d never felt such things before. Never thought of another and had a physical reaction. Never daydreamed about kissing voluntarily or entertaining the idea of more.
Elder had well and truly corrupted me just like he said I’d corrupted him.
Doing my best to concentrate on the lingerie and not my wayward thoughts of Elder covering his dragon tattoo in soap, of his hands sliding over dusky skin, of his body growing hard and—
I shivered, slightly lightheaded.
Stop it. He’s just human. Just a man.
But that was the thing.
Elder wasn’t just a man. He was more than human. He’d transcended into fantasy. He was the beast locked in a castle. He was the hero battling inner demons. He was more than just mortal because he’d already done so much more than any other roguish storybook prince would do.
He’d rescued me.
He’d awakened me.
He’d kissed me awake like Sleeping Beauty and removed the poisoned apple from my soul like Snow White.
He was my happily ever after.
I just had to be brave enough, strong enough, and fearless enough to claim him.
Get it together, Pim. Stop such fantastical thoughts.
This was just a date. Just sex. Nothing more.
Digging into the red box, I shoved aside the last remaining lingerie and pulled out a black dress. Simple in its sheath like satin but with a nod to the ‘20s with its flapper-inspired fringe on the hem and in-sewn strings of black pearls over the bodice.
So he’d bought me clingy lingerie, yet ensured the dress would whisper around my body with no claustrophobia.
He said the lingerie was for you.
I didn’t believe that.
It’s for him.
He wanted to see me dressed like a normal woman he was about to seduce. He wanted to forget my past so he could prevent the guilt and shame I witnessed in his eyes every time we kissed.
I didn’t want that.
I wanted this to be new, but I also wanted it to be us. Not us pretending to be other people.
The bathroom door opened, blowing clouds of steam into the bedroom as Elder stepped out with a white towel wrapped around his waist.